Various devices are known in the art for cleaning and stimulating the teeth and gums to maintain good dental hygiene. The most ubiquitous such device is the conventional toothbrush. Another popular cleaning and stimulating device is an interproximal toothbrush such as one of the many different interproximal toothbrushes which are available from John O. Butler Company of Chicago, Ill. Still other types of commonly used cleaning and stimulating devices are rubber stimulators, picks, flossers and even small dental mirrors which aid in monitoring inaccessible areas in the mouth.
Typically, these cleaning and stimulating devices are single units comprising a handle and a brush or other cleaning or stimulating element. Anyone wishing to partake of two or more of these tooth cleaning or stimulating devices must undertake the expense of purchasing, and the inconvenience of storing two or more different unitary devices. Also, as the cleaning or stimulating elements wear out, the entire device (unitary handle and element) must be discarded and replaced. This expense and inconvenience discourages most people from using and maintaining more than a simple unitary toothbrush. As a result, most people achieve less than optimal dental hygiene.
While most toothbrushes are of a single-piece construction, two-piece toothbrushes have also been available in the marketplace from time-to-time. These two-piece toothbrushes, in which a handle and small removable brush element are typically provided, have not fully satisfied the needs and desires of many users. This has been primarily due to difficulties in handling the small brush element and the inconvenience of attaching and detaching the handle and the removable brush element. It has also been due to the relatively insecure attachment achieved in such devices, particularly after mechanisms used to secure the brush to the handle are subjected to wear over an extended period of time.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dental hygiene mechanism in which a series of different dental cleaning and stimulating elements can be attached to a single handle, thereby alleviating the need to purchase or maintain multiple unitary dental hygiene devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dental hygiene system having an improved locking system in which a variety of different cleaning and stimulating elements can be easily and reliably attached and detached from a single handle.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a dental hygiene system including a handle and a variety of different cleaning and stimulating elements in which the handle will withstand repeated changes of the elements without significant wear.
A further object of the invention is to provide a dental hygiene system including a handle and a variety of different cleaning and stimulating elements in which the cleaning and stimulating elements are mounted in carrying members which are easy to handle and convenient to use.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.